29 August 2013 - Ken Gunn, the founder and Chairman of The CEO Institute, signs a five-year Partnership Agreement with Mr Hans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General, Bureau of Strategic Planning, UNESCO. Under this newly sealed partnership, The CEO Institute is going to contribute funds to the “Malala Fund for Girls’ Right to Education”.

“We are very enthusiastic about having an Australian partner supporting us,” said Mr Hans d’Orville. “The CEO Institute is the first Australian private sector company to partner with UNESCO. We hope that through its impressive membership base and various programs, The CEO Institute will open the door to the wider Australian and international business community for us. The cooperation with The CEO Institute is a win-win situation.”

“Malala’s ordeal has touched us deeply, as it has so many others around the world”, said Ken Gunn. “We are an organization that regards education and opportunity as central to our business, and we are delighted to be able to work with UNESCO towards improving educational opportunities wherever there is discrimination and disadvantage.”

“We have been involved in a number of charities in the past, but this partnership seems right in so many ways,” said Mr Gunn. “Educating the leaders of tomorrow, equal opportunities, and the global nature of the partnership which comes at a time when our own operations are taking on an international dimension. Both our staff and our various stakeholders are very excited about it. By exposing the Malala Fund to our membership base with 1,000 Australian businesses represented, and the wider education community, we are confident of generating support well beyond our own.”